It is an old and holy practice in the Catholic Church to call on the saints in Heaven for intercessory help. We utter the name of the saint and ask him or her to pray for us. The Salesians are under the special patronage of Mary, Help of Christians, so they end all their prayers with "Mary, Help of Christians, pray for us". We also call on Mary, along with John Bosco, when we pray with the kids.
I have gotten into a habit of calling on Mary Help of Christians (sometimes just called "Mary Help" by the sisters. I don't think I'm on close enough terms with her yet to give her a nick name) when I am frustrated, tired, or otherwise in need of help. At least a couple times a day I pause, take a breath, mutter, "Mary, Help of Christians..." under my breath, and go on.
This past week in one of my classes, I was all kinds of a mess trying to change gears from one grade to another. I stopped mid-step in front of the classroom and called on Mary, this time more audibly than I meant to. Initially I was a little embarrassed because kids are like wild animals -- they smell fear, and they capitalize on it. "Great," I thought, "now they know I'm not perfect. They will squash me."
Before I could finish the thought, though, all the kids who had overheard me stopped what they were doing and said, "Pray for us!".
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is theophany.
4 comments:
Even for someone so resolutely God-less like myself, this warms my heart. obligatory "awwww"
AhhH!!!!!!!!! That is wonderful. I have tears in my eyes. Woot for the lil minds your faith is impacting.
All over!!!
upon reading your past post about aging, I realized we have close birthdays--I am March 5th, and also turned 22! happy late birthday to us. oh, and this might make you snicker..
(look on my page...)
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